


respire and repeat

by kuresoto



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Drabble, F/M, Hallucinations, The Last Jedi Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:30:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuresoto/pseuds/kuresoto
Summary: She’s seven when she sees him for the first time; a small boy of similar age to her with thick, dark locks that seemed unable to hide his painfully large ears. He just stands there, watching her with an expressionless face as the busy scavengers pay no mind to him. Being a child herself, Rey shies away from him, too timid and too tired from cleaning broken parts to use her precious energy to talk to a stranger.She doesn’t see the boy at Niima Outpost again.(The Last Jedi Trailer Spoilers)





	respire and repeat

**Author's Note:**

> _finger guns_ i am still SHOOKEH so here. kinda mirrors Paper Minds to an extent, but that's just me loving this HC :3

She’s seven when she sees him for the first time; a small boy of similar age to her with thick, dark locks that seemed unable to hide his painfully large ears. He just stands there, watching her with an expressionless face as the busy scavengers pay no mind to him. Being a child herself, Rey shies away from him, too timid and too tired from cleaning broken parts to use her precious energy to talk to a stranger.

She doesn’t see the boy at Niima Outpost again.

The next time she sees him is during a particularly rough night of fevers, a virus going around putting most of Unkar Plutt’s scavengers out of commission. She coughs and reaches for her cup of water weakly, only to knock it over at the sight of the boy in her AT-AT. Again, he doesn’t say anything and neither does she. Instead, she passes out and believes it to be a dream. Nothing more.

The third time he appears, she chalks it up as a hallucination due to hunger pains from days of starvation. She knows something is definitely not right when she thinks she hears the boy speak, soft whispers cradling her to sleep.

‘ _Breathe. Just breathe, and it’ll all be okay._ ’

She doesn’t speak of it or document the boy anywhere, a part of her too terrified to acknowledge the apparition. As the years pass, his visits are more or less sporadic. There’s no schedule or warning when he appears, and there’s no guarantee he will ever speak to her again, but when he does, it’s the same phrase.

‘ _Just breathe, and it’ll all be okay._ ’

As a child, she has no idea what to do with that information. Growing from her teen to her young adult years, she realises that breathing is all she could do. Whether it is from a nasty sprain from one of her scavenging trips, or her stomach clawing from the inside as her body begged for more food, breathing is all she could do to numb the pain.

How to breathe. How many breaths to take. Long and deep or short and shallow? From her stomach or from her diaphragm?

Such questions preoccupies and distracts her mind from whatever unfortunate situation she finds herself in.

Situations like now.

“Fulfill your destiny.”

She tries not to scream with her teeth clenched tightly together, but they escape her throat anyways. With difficulty, she tries to breathe. A few wisps of air through her teeth and a small inhale through her nose is all she can muster. With her hands forced at her sides, it’s like a heavy hand wraps around her frame and presses down on her chest, squeezing every precious bit of air from her lungs.

‘ _Remember, just breathe_.’

Through the blur of her watery eyes, she makes out the silent boy of Jakku. The one who disappeared without a trace, but always appeared when she was in pain. The one she is sure no one could see but her.

There’s someone talking behind her, but she doesn’t care. All she can see is the boy, still young like he hadn't aged a day.

She suddenly falls to the ground, her bones screaming as she hits the floor with a dull thud. There’s more talking behind her and she lifts her head up slightly to see the boy walk towards her. Closer and closer until he is no longer a blur. And no longer a boy.

Like a hazy dream lifted from her mind, the boy dissipates and is replaced by Kylo Ren. He looks down at her with eyes full of an emotion she is far too exhausted to place. He grips his lightsaber in his hand and parts his lips to whisper to her softly, just loud enough for her to hear.

_‘Breathe. Just breathe, and it’ll all be okay.’_

It’s all she can do as her eyes roll back, falling unconscious at his feet.

 


End file.
